GOMI constructed bloggers as public figures to justify reader scrutiny

Evidence

One particularly popular destination for blogger snark is Get Off My Internets, which launched in 2009 and was later dubbed the “Craziest Destination for Blogger Hate.” According to the site’s “About Us” narrative, “With the rise of blogging-as-a-job bloggers have become a new kind of ‘reality star’ for the modern world. GOMI provides a space for blog readers to share opinions about these web celebrities in a (mostly) moderation free zone.” The site is populated by punchy critiques of blogger practices as well as salacious revelations. Over the years, the site has taken aim at a number of online influencers whose sites are deemed excessively promotional or fake, including those accused of excessive photo-manipulation (e.g., Photoshop). Ostensibly, GOMI’s explicit construction of bloggers as “web celebrities” serves to deflect critique of the site itself. As the popular argument goes, these individuals open themselves up to surveillance by thrusting themselves into the public eye. — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 353

Categorization

• SEED: The way scrutiny is rationalized by constructing the target as a celebrity is a crisp mechanism worth reusing for essays on doxxing/privilege and on ‘public figure’ defenses.
• XREF: connects to: A content creator’s crafted persona can outgrow her private self — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 328; A respected publication’s coverage legitimizes scandal into public issue — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 4268

Broader Connections

• A respected publication’s coverage legitimizes scandal into public issue #expands (0.78) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 4268